Behind the Glass

Home

(Making waves:) The truth about light

It’s not unusual for a piece of art to be controversial. Historically, some of the greatest artworks of all time have been. What makes Olafur Eliasson’s piece space resonates regardless of our presence (Wednesday) so unique, isn’t that it’s inherently controversial, but that to fully understand it means discovering one of the most controversial moments in scientific history.

space resonates regardless of our presence (Wednesday),
Olafur Eliasson, 2017. © Olafur Eliasson. 2017.3.16.

Now on display at The Corning Museum of Glass, (Wednesday) is modest in construction and comprised of just four parts – an LED light, a thin opaque disk, a prismatic glass ring, and the wall-mounted arm that connects them all. The light from the LED is blocked by the disk, and the lens magnifies the ensuing battle between light and dark onto the wall. Despite this simplicity, (Wednesday) elicits an unexpected experience in the viewer. At once awed by the beautiful, concentric rings of shadow that appear on the wall, it’s also possible to be confused by the very things that excite and stir the senses.

Hidden in the simplicity is a mystery that reveals much more than meets the eye. Read more →

Failure to launch: The American glass casket industry

The Industrial Revolution in America altered nearly every part of life, including death. Until the late 1800s, burial in a hand-worked wooden coffin was common. Unfortunately, the coffin and the body inside were known to quickly succumb to the teeming array of life below ground. Their wood construction didn’t do much to discourage graverobbers either, but grieving loved ones had few other options.

American industrialization changed that. Machines produced goods that replaced many hand-crafted items, like wooden coffins. As U.S. labor shifted from farm to factory, burial options followed suit.

Glass first appeared on U.S. coffins when small clear panels were added to the lids of caskets for viewing the deceased. The window also would alert onlookers that the occupant had been accidentally buried alive if breath condensation appeared on the inside of the glass.

Eventually inventors experimented with making entire coffins of industrial glass and produced plenty of controversy in the process. Read more →

Five glass mysteries to thrill you this fall

Murder has never been more marver-lous, suspense never as shattering, as in these thrilling reads. Whether you like your mysteries classic, cozy, or kid-friendly, there’s a glass-related story for you in the Rakow Library’s collection.

Here are five books to add to your fall reading list:

The Purloined Paperweight by P.G. Wodehouse The Purloined Paperweight by P.G. Wodehouse

Originally published as Company for Henry, this zany tale of romance and intrigue follows paperweight collector J. Wendell Stickney on his quest to liberate a distant relative of a magnificent family heirloom.

Read about the history of paperweights and browse images of paperweights in the Museum’s collection.

This is the third in a series of blog posts addressing photographic lighting techniques for transparent glasses. It builds on the techniques discussed in the first two posts, Photographing glass, part 1 and Photographing glass, part 2.

In the first two posts, I used colorless engraved glasses to demonstrate how we can reveal detail by exploiting the ways glass interacts optically with its surroundings in a carefully controlled lighting environment.

In this third post, I use two different objects without engraving to demonstrate how the same lighting principles can be used to capture more subtle elements like tooling marks and optic ribbing. I also present a few techniques used to define edges and introduce controlled reflections. My goal is to capture details that provide insight into the process of making the objects as well as the properties of the glass itself.

As with the first two posts in this series, all objects are photographed on a translucent white acrylic surface (PlexiGlas 2447 with a P95 matte finish). Read more →

New Glass Review 43: An Outside Perspective on the Best of Contemporary Glass

Get excited and check the mail, because New Glass Review returns this month for its 43rd issue.

An annual exhibition-in-print, New Glass Review features 100 of the most timely, innovative projects in glass produced during the year. Artworks include sculptures, vessels, installations, and other works in glass by emerging and established artists.

A flagship publication of The Corning Museum of Glass since 1980, New Glass Review is a cyclical reintroduction into the world of contemporary glass and the artists who inhabit it; artists who continually push the boundaries of the material and the limits of their expression.

Following an open call for submissions that receives hundreds of entries every year from countries across the world, New Glass Review is curated by the Museum’s curator of postwar and contemporary glass and a changing panel of guest curators. While the search for the Museum’s next contemporary curator was underway this past summer, Samantha De Tillio was invited to lead the selection process. De Tillo was joined by Davin K. Ebanks, Kim Harty, and Kimberly Thomas.

Amy Schwartz & William Gudenrath Honored with 2023 James Renwick Alliance for Craft Award

The Studio’s Amy Schwartz and William (Bill) Gudenrath were honored on Saturday, May 6 in Washington DC with the James Renwick Alliance for Craft (JRA) Distinguished Craft Educator Award for excellence and innovation in education. The biennial award was celebrated at the JRA Spring Craft Weekend with a Symposium, Gala, and Awards Brunch. Recognized for their influence on future artists and significant contributions to American education in the craft field, Amy and Bill’s selection as honorees was the first time in the ceremony’s 20-year history that both makers and educators were honored at the same time.

William (Bill) Gudenrath and Amy Schwartz with their award at the Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC, May 6, 2023. Photo courtesy of the James Renwick Alliance.

Amy and Bill are the latest on a long list of distinguished honorees—the JRA Award has recognized some of the most influential craft artists in American history. This year, the other nominees included ceramic artist, social activist, and spoken word poet Roberto Lugo (the youngest artist to ever receive the Master of the Medium award); furniture maker Kristina Madsen; and curator, quilter, author, art historian, and aerospace engineer Carolyn Mazloomi.

CMoG Named One of the “7 Glass Wonders of the World”

Capping a truly momentous year for glass, The Corning Museum of Glass has achieved a new distinction: being named one of the “7 Glass Wonders of the World.”

The announcement was made during the closing festivities of the United Nations International Year of Glass (IYOG) 2022. The year officially concluded with a Conference and Ceremony at the University of Tokyo, Japan, on December 8-9, which was attended by our very own President and Executive Director Karol Wight. This event was followed by an official debriefing held at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on December 14.

Lino Tagliapietra in the Museum’s Amphitheater Hot Shop, May 13, 2022.

Lino Tagliapietra may be retiring, but not before one final visit to The Corning Museum of Glass. Last weekend was a monumental one for Lino, the glassblowers and staff at the Museum, and all the guests who filled the Amphitheater Hot Shop to see the Maestro at work during what will be his final performance in Corning.

To celebrate Lino’s enduring legacy, we asked those lucky enough to know and work with him, to describe the impact he has made on the glass world. To no surprise, the response was fervent and unanimous: Lino’s impact is, and will always be, extraordinary!